INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana Republican Party Chairman Kyle Hupfer has declared Mike Braun the winner of the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate.

With about half the county vote totals reported Tuesday night, Braun had 82,218 votes, compared to 62,250 for Luke Messer and 58,466 for Todd Rokita.

Republicans hope Donnelly is vulnerable in Indiana, where Donald Trump easily carried the state in the presidential election of 2016.

Braun, a businessman and former state representative, touted his business experience and claimed his two opponents were cardboard cutouts of each other. Rokita represents the 4th Distric,t and Messer the 6th District in Congress.

In November, Braun will face off with Democrat Joe Donnelly, the incumbent in a race targeted by the national Republican Party.